(.net) technology and society

May 31, 2006

Lessons from WineCamp

Before leaving Calaveras, the cadre of WineCampers sat down to share thoughts on the weekend:

Things that we liked

Number one: Andrew Ferriere's wine!
Following that, many
referred to how much they enjoyed having getting out of the city and
getting unplugged (even for a day) - and specifically, to have an
experience with people,
rather than simply having a meeting with them. Everyone felt like
others were more approachable, and were more likely to follow up
afterwards because of the sharing. Conversations went deep quickly, and
attendees saw just how powerful it could be.

Also, location, location, location: people thought that the setting
was amazing - camping in a vineyard, and swimming in caves? And of
course, there was outdoor yoga. Not your usual tech conference space.

Things that could be better

Many of the improvements suggested were logistical processes:
Directions shared ahead of time, more water for the kitchen, consistent
vegetarian options, and the like. Tightening up the stucture of the
open space, even if it was just having a fairly fixed schedule.

Beyond this, some attendees wished that more attendees were
full-time nonprofit staff; for the small amount of money that was
charged ($60), this would have been an incredibly valuable experience
for a nonprofit.

Nonprofits wanted to walk away with a roadmap for next steps, and
wanted to help other nonprofits bridge the same gaps that they did.
This implies that WineCamp needs to do more outreach and evangelizing
to other nonprofits. (And if your nonprofit is interested, you can sign
up to winecamp at googlegroups.com.)Things that people learned

All nonprofits needs something, and every individual is able to
contribute value,
though they may not know it. Nonprofits saw that they are not alone,
and that others
face some of these challenges; technology is not so scary, and
solutions can come from unexpected places. On the other side of the
table, there were epiphanies about the peer-to-peer model for
organizing, as folks learned from nonprofits with highly viral
participation.

Many people kept coming back to the
richness and immediacy of the conversations, and how they conveyed a
depth of what people in each sector had to deal with, and how
productive collaborations might be achieved. One of the nonprofit attendees remarked that "geeks are heroes," and
couldn't say enough about how much the participation was important to
making things happen.

The CivicSpace folks found out just how tough it is to build a site
from start to finish in just five hours, and liked getting an in-depth
view of what is inside people's heads. Geeks also liked getting to see
what people do with the software that they are creating, and especially
found it useful to hear how important social relationships are to
devevloping social software.
Seeing how different tools can be used for different missions relates
directly to the next generation of platforms.Tags:christine herronchristine.netspace jockeyswinecampcalaveraswinecampnonprofitnptechtechnology